Lucid Fortune
by Faz Master
Summary: After the war and Iroh's death Zuko opens a tea shop and meets a familiar face.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't own Avatar. The War is over and the Fire Nation is now a council run nation. Zuko tries to find his way after Iroh passes on.

Lucid Fortune

It had just started to rain on the hill top Iroh was buried at. Zuko read the tombstone, there were tears in his eyes but the rain made it hard to tell. General Iroh, may he forever be at peace with his son it said. The Gaang was behind Zuko standing in silence. They all knew nothing they could say would help Zuko right now.

"Zuko everything will be alright" Katara said trying to cheer him up.

"No, I've lost the only person who ever truly loved me." Zuko said in a hushed voice.

"Zuko" Katara said in a sad voice.

"Don't you get it? The only person who thought I was worth anything is dead! I have nobody!" Zuko shouted with anger and pain in his voice.

"You still have us, we care about you." Katara said in response.

Zuko calmed down. He felt slightly better now that he had vented.

"I don't know what to do. All I know is fighting and being a prince. With the war over and the new government in the Fire Nation I'm not needed." Zuko said with much confusion in his voice.

"Iroh new a lot about tea, he must have taught you something about it." Toph said speaking up.

"I know tea, so what?" Zuko questioned Toph.

"Jeez, I thought Sokka was slow, open a tea shop hothead." Toph said annoyed.

"Uncle Iroh and I had one before; I can probably get the same building." Zuko said finally cheering up.

"Yeah we'll all come to the opening!" Aang said jumping into the air excited.

Two weeks later the Jasmine Dragon was open for business in Ba Sing Se. Zuko found out quickly that running a tea shop yourself was not an easy task. The shop was as busy as if it had never closed. The Gaang offered to help but Zuko refused saying it would be even harder to run when they left.

The shop had slowed down towards the end of the day, the few people there kept to themselves. The Gaang decided to say there goodbyes and left. Zuko had started counting the day's profits when the bell above the door sounded that someone had entered.

"Take a seat anywhere I'll be with you in a second." Zuko said without lifting his head to see who the customer was.

Zuko put the day's profits down and walked over to the new customer to take an order.

"Good evening and welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, may I take your order.

"Hello Lee, or should I say prince Zuko" said a familiar voice.

Zuko was shocked at the memory of the voice but finally managed to say "Jin is that you?"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Ok here's chapter two.

Lucid Fortune

"Jin, is that you?"

"Yes Zuko it is." Jin said with her arms folded.

"Are you here to yell at me, because if I wanted a girl yelling at me I'd be courting one right now." Zuko said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Zuko I'm not going to yell at you, I just want an explanation."

"Good thing you're sitting down this is going to take a while." Zuko said after taking a deep sigh.

During Zuko's long explanation of how he was hiding in Ba Sing Se to how he joined with the Avatar the other customers left. It was dark by the time Zuko neared the end of his story.

"I opened the Jasmine Dragon and here I am." Zuko said leaning back.

"Wow that's quite a story." Jin said in a surprised voice.

"Well that's what happened; it's hard to make up a story like that." Zuko said in defense.

"I'm not saying it's fake, it's just a lot to take in at once. Look it's late I should get going. I'll stop in tomorrow to say hi." Jin said getting up to leave.

"Alright I have to close up the shop anyway." Zuko said.

They both said there goodbyes and Zuko was left alone in the tea shop. Zuko had an odd feeling but it was quickly ignored. Zuko closed the shop in silence.

The next morning Zuko opened the shop and it was immediately packed. Zuko was constantly taking orders and brewing tea. When the shop had started to slow down Zuko nearly passed out in a chair, he knew he wouldn't be able to run the shop by himself; it was just too much work. Zuko heard the door open and grudgingly got up to see who it was.

Jin walked into the Jasmine Dragon and was surprised to see that Zuko was no where in sight. Seeing the back room door open she saw a tired Zuko walk to the counter. Jin walked over and she could see the exhaustion in his whole body. Jin took a mental note of how toned Zuko's body was.

"Zuko you can't run this place by yourself, let me help you." Jin said softly.

"I don't need help I can do this myself." Zuko said defensively.

"Look at you your exhausted." Jin said in response.

"I'm not tired!" Zuko nearly shouted.

"Than why are you supporting yourself with the counter?" Jin said with a smirk on her face.

Zuko looked down and noticed he was indeed leaning on the counter. Zuko knew he had lost the argument and rather than make it worse he gave in to Jin's request.

"I'll get you an apron, can you be a waitress?" Zuko asked.

"I can manage." Was Jin's response.

Surprisingly enough to Zuko the rest of the day went by rather smoothly with Jin helping. Zuko noticed that Jin was much better with people than he was, but this was fine with Zuko he preferred to not get stares from people because of his scar.

Zuko wondered how much different his life would be without the scar. Zuko would still be in the Fire Nation being his father's lackey just like Azula. Zuko shuddered at the thought and went back to cleaning dishes.

When the last customer finally left Zuko and Jin both fell into seats.

"Well that wasn't so bad." Jin said sarcastically.

"Well one day down I only have the rest of my life to go." Zuko said while rolling his eyes.

"Jin I don't know how to thank you for helping me today." Zuko said looking at Jin.

"Let me work here and take me on a date and we'll call it even." Jin said smiling.

Zuko remembered their last date. He did enjoy himself even though he made a fool of himself in the restaurant, and the kiss was nice. If she worked with him Zuko wouldn't go out of his mind from the work load.

"Alright after work tomorrow I'll take you out to dinner." Zuko said with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Yep this is chapter three I hope you enjoy

Lucid Fortune

Jin had arrived early the next day to help Zuko open the shop. Zuko noticed she was a little tired; waking up early must be a fire bender thing because he was full of energy. Zuko had just put water on to boil when the first customers entered the shop.

Zuko noticed when Jin waited on the customers she always had a smile on her face. Jin did have a very nice smile; she had a lot of nice things about her as Zuko was discovering. She was always in a good mood unlike Zuko on most days.

The morning went by very smoothly. Zuko was taking a payment from a customer when he noticed a crying child. The mother was trying to calm him down but it wasn't going very well. Zuko sighed to himself; he didn't need a headache right now. Zuko saw Jin walk over to the child; she seemed to be holding something.

"What's the matter little fellah?" Jin said in a calming voice.

"I spilled (sniff) my tea and (sniff) that was the last cup." The child managed to say in between tears.

"Well if you can hold this pretty flower for me I'll get you a new cup ok?" Jin said in a motherly voice.

The child nodded in approval and Jin walked into the kitchen, she came back out holding a new cup of tea. After giving the child the cup she told him to keep the flower. The child smiled having finally calmed down sat back down with his mother. When Jin made her way back to the counter she noticed the expression on Zuko's face.

"Wow Jin that was a great thing you did for that kid." Zuko said trying not to sound stupid.

"I guess I'm just good with kids." Jin said slightly embarrassed at Zuko's comment.

"I don't mean to pry into your life, but I'm going to guess that you want to be a mother." Zuko said hoping he didn't push her wrong.

"I would like to once I find the right guy." Jin said blushing.

Zuko saw the blush on Jin's face and wondered if all girls were like this when talking about having kids. Zuko noticed there was an awkward silence so he decided to break it.

"Well we should get back to work." Zuko spoke quickly.

"Yeah I have tables to wait we'll talk later." Jin said while walking away.

The rest of the day at the shop went without a hitch. When the customers were paying Zuko a lot of them complimented him on his waitress. Zuko thanked them and knew that having Jin work with him was a good idea.

Zuko was sweeping the shop after everyone had left when Jin walked up to him.

"So where are we going tonight?" Jin asked with a smile on her face.

"I was thinking we could go to a nice restaurant and then go to the fountain afterwards, if that's ok with you." Zuko said looking at Jin now.

"Zuko that sounds great." Jin said happily.

When Zuko and Jin finally closed the shop they made there way to the restaurant. When they finally arrived at the restaurant they were seated quickly. Their dinner was filled with small talk. Zuko noticed the mouthfuls Jin was eating.

"So you still have quite an appetite I see." Zuko said still trying to keep the conversation going.

"Zuko is it alright if you tell me how you got your scar?" Jin said hoping she didn't hit a nerve.

"It's the only thing my father ever gave me." Zuko said while stirring his meal around on his plate.

"Zuko I'm so sorry." Jin said sympathetically.

"Hey don't worry about it that's in the past." Zuko said calmly.

When Zuko and Jin finished their meals they paid and left. On the way to the fountain Zuko and Jin were walking down the alley path they took last time when two men blocked their way. They both reeked of alcohol.

"Hey sexy why don't you forget this kid and get with a real man." One of the men said to Jin.

"I think I'll stay with him." Jin said as she and Zuko continued walking.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun tonight." The other man said as he tried to grab Jin's arm.

"Get away from me!" Jin shouted.

Zuko stepped in between Jin and the men. The men seemed angry at this point and Zuko put up his arms in a defensive stance.

"I'm going to ask you gentlemen, and I use that word very lightly, to walk away now before I'm forced to hurt you. Zuko said sternly.

The first man charged Zuko and swung his fist wildly at his head. Zuko blocked and quickly retaliated with a swift uppercut to the man's jaw. The man fell unconscious and the other man stood in astonishment staring at Zuko.

"Are you going to try something stupid also, or are you going to take your friend and leave?" Zuko questioned in an angry voice.

The man grabbed his unconscious friend and ran past Zuko and Jin. Zuko sighed, put his guard down and turned towards Jin.

"Are you ok?" Zuko asked softly.

"Yeah I'm fine let's keep going." Jin said looking at Zuko.

When Zuko and Jin finally arrived at the fountain they were the only ones there. The fountain was lit this time and Zuko had to admit it looked nice. Zuko noticed that Jin had grabbed his hand and had gotten closer to him.

"Zuko could I ask you something?" Jin said looking up at Zuko.

"Of course what do you need?" Zuko said smiling.

"Are things still complicated?" Jin asked softly.

Zuko thought about the question for a second. With the war over and nobody trying to kill him the answer was simple.

"No, not anymore." Zuko said looking Jin in the eyes.

"That's good." Jin said quickly.

Jin than leaned up towards Zuko and kissed him lightly. Zuko felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Zuko felt that he was loved again; he leaned down and returned the kiss. Jin's arms quickly found their way around Zuko's neck while his hands found their way around her waist. When Zuko and Jin finally broke apart from the kiss they were breathing heavily.

"I could get used to that." Zuko said in between breaths.

"I could get used to a lot more than just kissing." Jin said in a seductive tone.

Zuko and Jin slept in each others arms that night.

Eight years later

Zuko walked home from the market with a bag in his hand. When he made his way into the house a young boy ran up to him.

"Daddy's home Daddy's home!" the boy shouted.

"Iroh it's good to see you too." Zuko said picking his son up.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your wife and Jade." Jin said with an infant in her arms.

Zuko set his son down and kissed his wife, and held his daughter. Zuko looked at his wife his son and his daughter.

"I'm home uncle." Zuko whispered as a smile crossed his face.


End file.
